Safety attachment for railway-coaches.



0. A. WOLFE.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY COACHES. APPLICATTION FILED SEPT. 28,1914.

1 1 39,6 1 9, Patented May 18, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

THE NORRIS PETERS (20., F'HOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON, D

0. A. WOLFE.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY COACHES.

APPLI CATION FILED SEPT-28, T914- 1 Patented May 18, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

EQE'

T Jwuaniox dkfomwnze THE NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON DC.

: FEQ

OTA ALONZO WOLFE, OF VAN WERT, OHIO, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-FOURTH TO FRANK J.LORDIER, OF GREENVILLE, OHIO.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR RAILWAY-COACHES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1915.

Application filed September 28, 1914 Serial No. 863,910.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OTA A. WOLFE, a citi zenof the United States, residing at Van l/Vert, in the county of Van fortand State of Ohio, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements inSafety Attachments for Railway-Coaches; and I do declare the followingtobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willento allow the same to be readily accessible should repairs benecessary.

l Vith the above and minor objects in view, the invention resides incertain novel features of construction and combination here in describedand claimed and shown in the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a truck and a plurality of the sillsmounted thereon, showing the application of the invention; Figs. 2 and 3are vertical transverse sections as seen on the line 23 of Fig. 1,showing the device respectively in inactive and active positions; Figs.1 and 5 are longitudinal sections showing the parts respectively intheir inactive and active positions; Fig. 6 is a detail transversesection taken along the plane of the line 6-6 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 7 is adetail horizontal section through a casing to be described, showing moreparticularly the mounting of a latch bolt therein.

In the accompanying illustration, the numerals l designate a pluralityof longitudinal sills upon which the body of a car is to be mounted, thenumeral 2 designates a transverse bolster which is pivoted by an uprightking-bolt 3 to the transverse bar 4 of a truck, and the numerals 5designate the end frames of the truck which are secured to bearings 6 inwhich the axles 7 of the flanged wheels 8 are revolubly mounted. As

is common with devices of this character, the. wheels 8 run upon a trackformed of a pair of parallelrails 9.

' The construction, so far described, is common to most forms of railwayrolling stock and forms no part of the present invention. Ashereinbefore suggested, however, it becomes expedient to provide meansfor applying the brakes of the coach, in case of derailment caused byspreading rails, by a broken axle, or by any other means. For thispurpose, I have provided the means now to be described.

Secured by screws 10 or other appropriate fasteners, to the oppositeends of the bar 4, is a pair of bearing blocks 11 which may beconstructed as shown in the drawings or in any other appropriate manner.It is essential, however, that said blocks be provided with transverseguideways 12 in their lower ends and with upright guideways 13 risingtherefrom and provided with reduced extensions 1%. Each guideway 12receives therein a transverse shoe or foot 15 from which upright rods 16rise, said rods projecting through the reduced extensions 14 above thebearing blocks and having stop pins 17 whereby they are limited in theirdownward movement. Located within the guideways 13 and bearing, at theiropposite ends, against the inner ends thereof and against the shoes 15,are coil springs 18 which exert their tension to normally force saidshoes downward until the pins 17 prevent further movement. WVhen in thisposition, the shoes 15 are located directly above the rails 9.

Pivoted at 19 to the opposite end portions of the bar 4, is a pair oflevers 20 whose outer ends overlie and contact with the upper ends ofthe'rods 16, while their inner ends are connected by a double link 21with the horizontal arm 22 of an angular lever which is provided with anupright arm 23 and which is pivoted at 2% within the bifurcated end of aplate 25 which is secured upon the bolster 2, the opposite end of saidplate being bent upwardly providing a post whose upper end is formedinto a hook26. The upright arm 23 is connected by a link 27 to a lever28 which projects horizontally from a valve 29 in the branch 30 of atrain pipe 30 which, as is common with devices of this character, isdesigned to contain a brake applying medium, (usually comin inactiveposition, in which position, the

angular lever stands as seen in Fig. 4, while 7 the two levers 20 andthe shoes 15 assume the shoes 15 will contact with the rails 9, where-'by, as the vehicle descends farther, the

levers 20 will be rocked, thereby pulling downward upon the link 21 androcking the angular lever'from the position seen in Fig. 4 to. that seenin Fig. 5, thereby actuating the lever 28, against the tension of itsspring 31 to open the valve 29, thereby allowing the medium in the pipe30, to apply the brakes.

In connection with the construction so far described, it becomesexpedient to provide means whereby the parts may be locked when thrownto active position. For this purpose, the construction now to bedescribed is employed.

Secured by means of a foot 35 to the bolster 2 at apoint adjacent theplate 25, is a casing 36 one of whose ends faces one side of the uprightarm 23 and is left entirely open as seen in Fig. 7, while the other endof said casing is. provided with an end wall having a central opening 37through which a latch bolt 38 projects, said bolt being shouldered bythe provision of an enlarged head 38 having a beveled nose 39 and beingheld in normally projected position by a coil spring 40 which encirclesthe reduced portion of the bolt and is interposed between the closed endof the casing-36 and the head 38, a stop pin 41 being provided for thepurpose. of preventing excessive downward movement of said head. Whenthe parts stand in inactive position, as seen in Fig. 1, the nose 39 ispositioned slightly in advance of the upright arm 23 and contacts withsaid arm, whereby when the arm is moved for-.

wardly by the means before described, the head will be moved inwardlyagainst the tension of the spring 40, which spring then acts to projectsaid head when the parts have moved to the position seen in Fig.5,thereby retaining the angular operating lever in active position andlocking the lever 29 in a I position in which thevalve is open.

In order that the latch bolt may be readily released, the same is hereshown as provided with an operating rod 42 which projects laterally fromthe inactive end thereof and slides through appropriate openings in the.

adjacent sills 1, said rod being provided with a suitable operatinghandle 43 spaced outwardly from one of the side sills, in a position tobe readily grasped by an oper ator. 7

Fromthe foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it willbe seen that comparatively simple mechanism has beenprovided for carrying out the objects of the invention, yet that thisconstruction possesses numerous advantageous features. One of the mostprominent of these features is the fact that the latch mechanismisloc'a'ted at "a point at' which it is readily'ac'cessible shouldrepairs be necessary. i

v The numerous parts of thedevice may be constructed ofproper materialsand in essential proportions. ever, that the springs 18 be of suchstrength as toprevent the shoes 15 from being operated by any'powerother than the weight of a coach. By this provision, it will be seenthat the brake applying mechanism cannot be tripped unless the coach isderailed.

I claim 1. The combination with a vehicle having wheels designed to runupon a track, of a pipe beneath the vehicle and adapted to con tain abrake applying medium, a valve in said pipe and having a laterallyprojecting operating arm, a plate secured to the vehicle adjacent thefree end of said arm and having one of its ends bifurcated, its otherend being bent laterally and formed into a book, a coiled spring securedat its opposite ends to said hook and to said arm, an operating leverfulcrumed within the bifurcated end of the plate, a link connecting saidlever with the arm on the valve, and mechanism pipe beneath the vehicleand containing abrake applying medium, a valve in said pipe having alaterally projecting operating arm, a plate secured to the vehicleadjacent the free end ofsaid arm, a post rising from one end of saidplate, an operating lever fulcrumed to the other end thereof, a coiledspring connecting the post and the operat ing lever, an operating memberconnecting said lever with the arm on the valve, and mechanism alsoconnected with the lever for rocking the same in a direction to operatethe valve.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

' OTA ALONZO WOLFE. Witnesses: I

I- R. Prnnon, C. E. HUNT.

It is advisable, how-' Copies of this patent may be obtained for fivecents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

